| The last time the Detroit Lions entered their open date with a losing record Color Rush Kentrell Brice Jersey , they fired the general manager.This year, the break in the schedule has been a bit quieter.The Lions are 2-3 and have certainly had their problems during the early part of this season, but after winning two of their last three games, they appear to have achieved some stability. At the very least, there's no sense of panic ?and that's noteworthy given how poorly Detroit's first couple games went."We just know what we have. The games that we lost, we had a lot of mental mistakes," receiver Marvin Jones said. "When we're a team that doesn't do that and has less penalties, and can keep a sustained drive and stuff like that, it's completely different. That's all we have to do is keep doing that."It was hard to imagine a more distressing beginning for the Lions than their 48-17 loss to the Jets in their season opener. That was new coach Matt Patricia's first game, and Detroit let a bad stretch in the third quarter snowball into a rout. A loss at San Francisco the following weekend had the Lions staring at a possible 0-5 start, since their next three games would be against New England, Dallas and Green Bay.Detroit did start 0-5 back in 2015, and at 1-7, the Lions fired GM Martin Mayhew. After that, Detroit produced back-to-back 9-7 seasons, making the playoffs in one of them Youth Aaron Rodgers Jersey , but the Lions wanted more and made a coaching change last offseason, bringing in Patricia to replace Jim Caldwell."Coach Caldwell and Patricia are completely, totally opposite as people. It will be some changes, but with anything, you get used to them," receiver Golden Tate said. "You've just got to adjust."After the first two games, Detroit seemed in danger of taking a big step backward this year. That may still happen, but the past three games have given the Lions reasons to be hopeful. Patricia's first win came against his former team when Detroit beat New England . Last weekend, the Lions held off Green Bay 31-23 in Patricia's first game against an NFC North opponent."Hopefully we are getting better. I think we are," Patricia said. "I would say there are still some things that, after getting done watching all the tape, that I'm probably going to make sure we get corrected pretty quick here coming out of (Sunday's) game. It wasn't really all perfect."Detroit had some good fortune last weekend when Mason Crosby of the Packers missed four field goals and an extra point, but the Lions have improved in some tangible ways. Matthew Stafford threw four interceptions in the season opener but has only one since, and Detroit's long-dormant running game has at least become serviceable with rookie running back Kerryon Johnson. The Lions are ranked 21st in rushing offense this season after finishing 28th, 32nd, 30th and 32nd the past four years."When you break the huddle and you're at the line of scrimmage and the defense really isn't sure if it's a run or if it's a pass Color Rush Muhammad Wilkerson Jersey , that's a pretty good position for an offense to be in," offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. "If you're making yards on the ground, you're making yards throwing the ball, you're a little bit of a dual threat there for the defense, it can put them in some difficult situations."The Lions have plenty of issues they still have to deal with. They're ranked 27th in total defense, and defensive end Ziggy Ansah 鈥?back this season on the franchise tag 鈥?has missed four straight games with a shoulder injury. Detroit hasn't won away from home, and three of its next four games are on the road, starting with a matchup at Miami on Oct. 21.Still, the Lions have kept their season from falling apart after a terrible start. If they can make it to the halfway point in decent shape, then Patricia will have every opportunity to turn his debut year into a success."It's early in October, so hopefully we can keep progressing," Patricia said. "But I think, I hope we're moving in the right direction."Follow Noah Trister at Twitter/noahtrister Against the Bears, it was the first few drives. The next week, it was the final few for the Vikings. On a sloppy day in Washington, it was the entire first half. Mike Pettine’s defense has given up 10-0 runs Youth Kevin King Jersey , 14-0 runs, and 14-3 runs at various points this season. Alex Smith and Co. hit up the Green Bay Packers’ defense for 28 in the first half. Kirk Cousins hung 22 on Pettine’s crew in just the fourth quarter. Even Mitch Trubisky got 10 straight to open the season.On those drives, the Green Bay defense looked discombobulated and undisciplined. Missed tackles and missed assignments marked long scoring drives kept alive by key penalties and key conversions. What makes this even more maddening for fans is the rest of the game, this unit looks ferocious.After that 10-play, 86-yard drive to open the Bears season, Chicago managed just 210 total yards in 56 plays after that. That’s 3.75 yards per play and dominating defense. But that’s against Mitch Trubisky, hardly a high bar right?Before the third quarter drive that ended in fourth-quarter touchdown for the Vikings in Week 2, Green Bay held Minnesota to 147 yards in 36 plays and just the lone touchdown. That’s barely four yards per play. After that, they gave up 191 yards on 20 plays and three touchdowns plus the two-point conversion to tie. And against Alex Smith in Week 3 the defense allowed 336 yards in 34 first-half plays, giving up 28 points. In the second half, the Packers defense gave up just 50 yards on 21 plays, with 3 points coming off a short field following Randall Cobb’s fumble. Defensively, the Packers have played two dominant second halves and one dominant first half. Jay Gruden was protecting a lead and may not have been as aggressive, up double digits against the Packers, but if that’s true he’s a bad history student. We’ve seen what Rodgers can do. It’s still up to the defense to make those plays and they did. It’s worth mentioning that the Vikings’ offensive explosion correlates directly to the loss of Kevin King with injury. Davon House got torched on the 75-yard touchdown to Stefon Diggs and generally struggled against Washington with bad penalties and poor technique. His injury could be a blessing in disguise for the Packers, who now bring in Bashaud Breeland — one of the prized cornerback free agents this offseason — to add stability to the cornerback room. Breeland would be an upgrade over House in any circumstance http://www.authenticsgreenbaypackers.com/cheap-bryan-bulaga-jersey , but getting him for cheap just when this team needs depth could provide the ideal shot in the arm for Mike Pettine’s group.But they have to do better on early downs and in the red zone. When the Packers blitz, they’re highly effective, but they’re saving that mostly for third-and-obvious passing situations. According to The Athletic’s Ben Fennell the Packers have the second-most effective blitz package in football this season, giving up a 31.2 quarterback rating with two picks, two sacks, and no touchdowns. On the other hand, when teams are driving it and getting in scoring position, they’re too often finding paydirt. This was a common problem for the Packers last season under Dom Capers when they were the worst situational group in the league. Quarterbacks inside the 30 are 16/20 with 4 TDs and 0 INTs for a 135.8 rating, second-worst in football. Part of that comes from a lack of top-tier talent in their primes. Clay Matthews isn’t a field-tilter and Nick Perry runs too hot and cold. While Jaire Alexander and Josh Jackson could be stars in the future, they’re not ready to put a defense on their back and there are too many holes right now in communication and execution when defending the goal line. Situational defense should improve as the defense works more in unison, but they also need some of these young players to grow into playmakers. Kevin King must stay healthy, with his impact on this defense so evident. There may not be a way to hide the obvious deficiencies of Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Kentrell Brice, but Pettine will have to find a way. This defense has flashed brilliance and utter incompetence. If this defense can just replace the latter with mere competence, it should be good enough to give Aaron Rodgers and this offense plenty of chances to score enough to win. |
